Posts Tagged ‘obnoxious’

Since today’s comic feature Jimmy the theater employee so prominently, I thought it was only fair to dedicate a buzzComix incentive sketch to him. If you’ve been saving your vote for a new sketch, well, now’s the time to cash in! Click here to vote!

Sorry for the delay in todays strip. There were a lot of obstacles standing in the way of a timely delivery. Most notably the Labor Day holiday and doing things with family.

But I also needed to take a step back creatively when I was in the middle of today’s strip and didn’t like the direction it was going. Like I mentioned on Friday, the end of summer is a real sucky time for movies. It makes my job that much more difficult.

So instead of trying to make fun of some B-grade tripe like Paparazzi, I would try to do another storyline. Buckle your seat belts, kids – Because I think this one will be a doozy. I have it plotted out in my head and I can either end it next week or two weeks from Friday. I have a lot of story to tell!

I know taking time out to tell a longer story might distract from some of the more timely aspects of the comic, but truthfully, I haven’t been pleased with the comics since the ones I made making fun of Aliens VS. Predator. It was time to try something else.

I hate to think that the quality of the comics are so closely tied to the quality of films that make it into theaters, but when a movie like The Cookout comes to theaters, it seems redundant to crack wise on it. The movies are so poor to begin with, it’s like placing a turd on a pile of garbage – You’re really not making that much difference.

So anyway… I have a storyline in the bin for the next couple of weeks. I hope you enjoy it.

Onto site news, everyone please visit our two new sponsors, Security’s Finest and ZeStuff. Security’s Finest is a web comic written by David Hinkle. Dave’s done a guest strip for Theater Hopper in the past and he’s a prominent member of the THorum community, going by the name RX King. Most importantly, he’s a good guy, so support his work.

Our second sponsor, ZeStuff was formerly Hyperion Press and home to some great web comic and gamer related merchandise. These guys handle the shirts for 8-Bit Theater and VG Cats, so you know they’re doing something right! They have a few designs of their own that a really good, too. Well worth a visit!

Last thing I’ll mention is that I have a t-shirt design in competition over at Threadless.com. If you’re not familiar with how Threadless works, it’s pretty simple. Artists like me create t-shirt designs and the community votes on which designs they would like put into production so later they can buy one for themselves.

If you’re not a member of the Threadless community, sign up here. Then you can locate my shirt by clicking here. If you’d like to help me out, please vote a “5” for the shirt and also check the “I’d Buy This” box. Clicking that box doesn’t commit you to anything. It just helps the people who run the site get a better idea of what people want to buy. Leaving positive feedback in the comments area doesn’t hurt either!

Just so you know what you’re voting for, I’ve attached an image of the design here. I’m really proud of it and I want it to do well.

What’s in it for me? Well, aside from people walking around wearing a design I created, I would win $400 cash and $100 in Threadless credit. I’m pretty much telling you that in the interest of full-disclosure. Let’s just say that cash would come in pretty handy right now since we recently had to put Cami’s car in the shop. Darn unplanned expenses!

Of course, if you’d rather circumvent the whole Threadless routine, you can always donate directly to the site. Click here to read about the extra benefits and incentives donators receive. You could always buy a poster or a t-shirt, too!

That’s about it for now. Thanks again for your patience and supporting Theater Hopper! I sincerely appreciate it!

Today’s comic is the yang to Wednesday’s comic yin. I thought it was important that Tom be served some kind of comeuppance for his comments in that strip because, well, I took a little heat for it.

I knew Wednesday’s comic and blog would generate a little controversy. It’s to be expected when you take a hard line on an unreasonable position.

Obviously anything I create for the site is meant to be interpreted as entertainment. But I think this is an instance where things got away from me a little bit.

Reader Matt Harrison forwarded me a link to a bit that Jerry Seinfield performed at the 2006 Oscar ceremony when he was announcing the nominees for Best Documentary. I had kind of forgotten about it, but when Matt mentioned it, part of the puzzle clicked. If you’ll allow me the indulgence, here is the transcript of his routine:

“I’m a huge fan of movies in general. I go all the time. I’ve noticed in theaters now they’re running some announcement trying to get you to pick up the garbage from around your seat. Oh, OK! Let me bring my orange jumpsuit and a wooden stick with a nail in it, too! Maybe I’ll work my way down the highway after the credits roll.

I’m not pickin’ nothin’ up! I’m the one that threw it down. How many different jobs do I have to do here?! There is an agreed-upon deal between us and the movie-theater people, it’s understood by every single person in this room. The deal is, YOU rip us off on overpriced, oversized crap that we shouldn’t be eating to begin with, and in exchange for that, when I’m done with something [holds out hand as if holding a soda cup], I open my hand [opens hand, letting the cup fall]. I’m not stickin’ my hand down into a dark hole to try and pry out three Goobers that have been soda-welded there since ‘The Shawshank Redemption’.”

That was kind of the spirit of things I was going for. Only problem is, I’m not Jerry Seinfeld and people can’t interpret your tone over the internet.

If I’m being honest, I wouldn’t have written what I did if I didn’t think there was a ring of truth to it. Concession prices are ridiculous and it feels like they’re adding insult to injury by telling us “Don’t forget to pick up after yourselves!” Especially when the status quo – the unspoken agreement – is that we’re spending our money to get away from those kind of responsibilities as long as there is someone there to do the job for us.

Of course, there is no logical defense against acting responsibly. Trash bins are at theater exits for a reason. As one of my readers, a theater worker, pointed out “People seem to have no problem bringing in a full bucket of popcorn and a 32oz. soda. But when it comes to taking out a few empty cups, it’s too much of a hassle.”

That’s hard to refute.

Reading the e-mails and forum discussions that spawned from Wednesday comic, I stuck to my guns at first. Partly because there’s no such thing as bad press and I wanted people to continue talking about the comic. I was also interested in seeing where the conversation would go. During the debate, I claimed that leaving your trash in the theater is a small way to “stick it to the man.”

That was the turning point.

The thing I overlooked in this whole debate are the people at the front lines – the theater workers who have to clean up this garbage. Yes, concession prices have inflated over the years, but little (if any) of that money trickles down to the theater worker. Why make an unpleasant job harder by refusing to make a minimal effort.

At first I protested. After all, I was once a theater worker. I used to have to pick up the most foul crap imaginable. We didn’t complain. That was the job and we knew it. Where was my advocate.

But then I realized that I’m nearly 30 years old and I need to get over it. This, as it turns out, is not the appropriately mature, adult thing to do. Additionally, as a blogger with some influence (however limited) it simply wasn’t responsible to suggest to my readers that it is acceptable to leave trash in a theater.

So as of this moment I’m renouncing my garbage-leaving ways and I encourage you to do the same. It doesn’t take a lot of effort and you’ll be the better person for it.

If you’re still looking for a way to “stick it to the man” and make your statement about the price of a popcorn and soda, boycott the concession counter. Send a message to the theater managers and hit them where it hurts – their pocketbooks. Don’t take it out on the little guy.